Twinned Fate
by Hakkology
Summary: Story of a young wizard thrown into a world of chaos, that is healing from its past wounds with all its paranoia.
1. Invisible

Hakko woke up from his sleep, in pain and agony, with a rough dream. He took deep breaths, and remained careful not to hit his head on the wooden bunk bed. Trying to stabilize his breathing, he looked around to realize he is still in his room. His room was moist, airless and was carrying a certain wooden odour to it and it was really untidy. He massaged his forehead, hoping to ease his head pain. He would get headaches after a long night of studying, or intense dreaming. He moved the coverlet off him, looking at his time capsule, realizing he's late for alchemy class.

While adapting to the life in the Ivory Tower, Hakko had a rather routine life. He wouldn't be allowed to leave the tower at any costs, he would keep going for his classes, hoping to finish his apprenticeship and become a full-fledged magician. He would stay in his room most of the time, reading, writing or studying, trying to perfect his knowledge of the unknown. Or he would just grab a warm drink, and stare out of the window in the study room two floors above, staring at the wilderness.

Occasionally he would be called to tournaments to play his favourite board game, the quadrant. It was a game that required four people, drawing some cards and making the best of what they draw, by defeating all the other wizards. It was merely an invented boring card game by the inhabitants of the Ivory Tower, but it did require tactical thinking and patience, along with intelligence to beat your opponents. Hakko was the Quadrant Champion a couple years ago, but he wasn't doing very well in his latest tournaments. Sometimes, he would also join up with some friends at the bottom floor to play some fireball in the large entrance hall. It was forbidden, and they would be punished if they were to be caught. A fireball made by a neutral contestant would be carried all over the place, while all the other wizards would try to control the ball and score to the other side using their hands, wielding it with their magic. But it was the greatest joy, and the biggest physical activity they had in the tower. There would be bets, crowds of applause, any thrill you would expect from a physical sports competition. Aside from these two, Hakko had a very routine life in the tower.

However, nights that are close to the end of his project deliveries were always out of the routine. The time and effort he had to put into things were way too much, he would always leave his routine behind and adapt some changes in his life, like sleeping up to very late and ignoring his daily chores. He would sometimes ignore sleep completely, and work on his project deliveries. One couldn't afford to fail his project, since it would mean elongating his apprenticeship, and that would mean elongated imprisonment for Hakko.

His room was a tiny wooden room, with well-shaped parallel planks on the floor, with inclined ceiling again with planks. It was as big as they would allow a student living in the tower. Considering there was already really little space in every floor, he was really happy about the conditions he lived in the tower, and about the size of his quarters. First graders quarters would be smaller, and narrower below, and private quarters would get larger and bigger as the individual advances in his education. The structure was almost ancient, plans would creak every time a person walks on them, and they would be all worn out. Students living in the tower created dozens of petitions and tried to change this, hoping to get their room looked at for maintenance. However, they were always ignored by the supervisors, using the excuse of "educational funding", as they receive very little from the ministry of magic, to initiate mass repairs. Every now and then, someone's room would have cracks or leakages that make life hard for them, and supervising engineer sent to oversee the flaws would handle the situation finding a shortcut to fix things, making it available for practical use temporarily. The rooms were small and shared by two students, but some first year apprentices would have to share rooms with three people as more people are admitted for education.

Every room within the apprentice's quarters had a couple of wardrobes for both students near the door. A couple desks for studying, along with a valet stand to hang their robes to visually represent they are students. Hierarchy was always really important in any institute that tries to regulate and legalize the use of magic. Every instructor would have different coloured robes, and every grade student would also be wearing different colours to represent their rank and level. There was a worn out linen carpet on the floor along with a single bookshelf for both students to share. Hakko's room was a bit fancier, they had some charms and trinkets hanged up on the ceiling, and near the wall. His roommate was a member of the Clan Fangliths, and he had superstitious beliefs as their bloodline come from a clan of warriors who would live their life, learning from animals such as wolves. All the charms were to protect the owner from certain evil intents, magic, curse, misfortune, weakness or failure. Hakko never believed these charms were good for anything, but he could clearly see the charms were enchanted with magic. Some of it was protective magic, which he was already familiar with, while the others were unknown to him. Also some paintings of his roommate's parents and other accessories of magical nature and other trivial objects such as cups, glasses and a poster of a woman illusionist giving a seductive pose. However, none of it was Hakko's. Hakko had nothing when he arrived to the Ivory Tower, and it always remained the same. He only had some spare clothes, his robe, his study tools and his necklace, which he always kept with himself. On every floor, there were other rooms similar to his, harbouring a couple students on its own.

There were six rooms in each floor, in a hexagonal design. Each floor would have a wooden circular hallway around the spiral stairway, which goes up close up to as high as dwarven engineering can build. Shamefully, every tower was constructed by Dwarven Engineers, as humans did not have the capability to build such massive structures. Usually every tower would have about eight floors for students, up to sixteen. Between the lower and upper floors, there would be floors and saloons specified for a certain school, like alchemy laboratories or enchantment rooms. Upper floors were for trained graduate magic wielders, special guests, and at the top there would be council chambers. Ivory tower gets thinner as it gets close to the sky, but there were rumours higher ups had the biggest rooms in the entire tower, which sounds completely unreasonable. But I suppose a tower that was built to facilitate wild magic wielders and train them to be better people for the society would have some features that are not comprehensible by reasonable minds.

But there was a reason for everything… These towers were incredibly needed, after magic came to our lives. Once humans discovered that there are some individuals with remarkable talents amongst them, they wished to control this anomaly and regulate these people's living standards. No one would want an angry little kid to burn the entire stables just because he's mad at his parents by flicking his fingers to run around uncontrolled. These towers were necessary prisons made for magic users, to control and teach them how to use their "gift" for the good of humanity. They towers were protected by the organization of Makith, the Guardians. They would oversee everything coming in or out, and control them thoroughly to make sure no wizard escapes, or no disturbance from outside occurs.

Humans did dislike these abominations… To be born with talents that other humans are not capable of, for many it was heresy, and that is why they built these towers and lock them up. Still angry mobs would approach the towers with torches preparing to burn the place down, while only a handful amount of Guardians would protect the tower from angry lot. But these magically talented people were used to this kind of treatment. They would be treated way worse outside the tower, and here they would have protection, and they would have higher ups who are way more experienced in using their talent to teach them. Of course, that would also mean those with talent has to lock themselves up from the beauties of the world. They would lock themselves in a tower, and spend their life in imprisonment with their kin, and accept these terms in return of safety and acceptance.

Hakko was one of these magically talented people, whose talent was revealed by an illusionist, Jordan Kath. He was merely ten years old, when he mistakenly burned down his neighbours cornfields and taken for trial. Humans would have no tolerance of such behaviour, and legalized action would only be taken in big cities. But Hakko was born in a small town, and Makith would have no overseers in little villages. The fortress of Makith was merely a stronghold of mercenaries working for the good interests of mankind and they would only act if they are ordered and paid to do something. The Guardians organization was merely formed to look after magically talented people and control them as they see fit, and overseers would be tasked to find anomalies, delivering them to the magical institutes for training and adaptation. In little communities, citizens would take the justice in their own hands, and dispose of these anomalies with their own methods, such as burning the villain or beheading it publicly when an anomaly does something harmful to the community. Hakko was almost burned on wood and was about to be executed for his crime, when Jordan Kath appeared out of nowhere with two guardians, showed his identity and asked Hakko to be released. For that, he was always eternally grateful to his master, and accepted to be his apprentice within the Ivory Tower. However he didn't know his new life would be way more restricting, then his life outside.

Would one prefer death, instead of being locked on a tower for his entire life? Would one be able to make a reasonable choice of that scale at the age of ten?

Nevertheless, here was Hakko sitting on his bunk bed with an intense headache from yesterday's studies. His clothes were stinky and untidy, thrown away near his chest and his desk was overflowing with torn papers, ink and books for studying. He was working on a solution to make a potion of invisibility using different methods. His instructor Borgh Lennon already thought the students how to make a simple potion of invisibility using a dim of nightshade and some other balancing powders. But Hakko was using an old approach done by an old elven sorcerer, Arlen Zumrie, who used very different ingredients and a very different approach using fusion powders with mandrake root and raw sepia. This was his term project, but he hit a dead end because he did not know the right proportions for the mixture, because the potions ingredients were merely a myth and wasn't written on any alchemy related book in the tower. Also his quartermaster told him they were out of freshly acquired sepia from live squids, so he wasn't able to continue his experiments. He was merely using theoretical knowledge and his research to guess the right mixture dosage, and hope when the supplies arrive next week he's ready to make the potion right. Of course, none of these plans would have value if he couldn't make it in time for the alchemy lab, and pass the first evaluation period.

Hakko quickly rose from his bed and started squeezing his wrinkled clothes in his chest, and fixing the chaotic look of the room. He wore a simple wool sweater and pants, wore his robe, grabbed his pen and paper putting them in the middle of the book "Main Ingredient". It was the alchemy book provided by the institute for all students, he wanted to have it around even though there is no class today. However, he made too much noise, waking up his roommate, who woke up saying:

"Did a Zanesh possess you or something? Just go back to bed, we still got an hour…" Hakko knew that his roommate can't see very well without his glasses, so he passed his glasses over to his roommate from the cupboard near the bed.

"By Fangoth, class starts in fifteen minutes!"

But it happened to Hakko once more. Soul stone, carried by a thin string was sitting on his cupboard. It was shining red, and glowing with magic, which would even be noticeable by a naked eye. It was a soulstone, a trophy that he earned years ago, hunting an evil entity with his master. The soulstones, as the name would suggest, would be used to gather, harvest or imprison souls of entities that cannot cross over, some wizards would also use them as pure source of power but Hakko kept his amulet with himself as a souvenir. It represented his first mission, pacifying of an evil lich that took resort in the Silverspire caverns. But his stone was different, Hakko carried them wherever he goes, whatever he does. Not because he was proud of his first achievement, because the stone was still alive. It usually spoke to him, and gave him clues, aided him with his work, whispered him in the night. The stone was carrying the soul of an old vampiric being who turned into a powerful lich called Zane Iddlar. While his master was occupied controlling the spirit, Hakko had to the seal the creature into the soulstone himself and ever since that day, he carried the soulstone wherever he goes.

His roommate knew that, occasionally he would end up focused on the stone, daydreaming and fading out from the real life, talking to it. And it happened again.

Rimman jumped from his bunk bed, slapping his head, waking him up. Hakko sighed, as he was used to this kind of treatment.

"Snap out of it! You are fading out again…"

"Fine Rim, I get it. I was just trying to speak…"

"No you were not, soulstones don't speak." Hakko grabbed his necklace and stormed out of his room, saying "Good luck at the revisions." just before shutting the door really hard with frustration.

"If you break the door you are paying for it from your money, you are the one studying here for free!"

Hakko started climbing the spiral stairs recklessly, he really did not wish to be late and he just did not want to argue with Rim once more about such trivial matters. Rim was not the best roommate you could ask for, but he was a good study friend. He was also a really sociable person, something Hakko never was. Usually in the mornings he would be really grumpy, and in the evenings he would call a friend of his to study together. It would be bothersome, but Hakko would just go down a couple floors and sit in the study room. According to him, Rim's views on life were pretty narrow, but his grades were still way better than his. Maybe he just couldn't accept the fact that, Rim was just better than him in all aspects, or the fact that they come from different circumstances. He was the star pupil; Hakko was the overly hardworking student who is incapable of making social interactions.

Ever since he came to the Ivory Tower to learn magic, Hakko didn't have many friends. He had Todd, who was one of the most troublemaking apprentices in the tower. It was his sixth year in the institute, and he would just extend his studies because he didn't want to succeed at them, he came to this tower to run away from the society for free and he didn't have any desire of leaving it. There were some students like that, every year you study in the Ivory Tower is basically your debt, and you are forced to work for the Makith and serve the Crown with your talents to pay your debt over the years. They would usually send you to become a buffer in a vampire hunting squad, or they would give you work for maintenance of the cities, some might become associated with diplomatic affairs with elves, or if you are lucky, you would be an advisor to some noble on unexplainable factors, becoming a court magician. Or you would just choose not to graduate, and agree to work in the same tower you are sent in as a librarian, or a maintenance worker. The world out there was a cruel place for magic users and most people did not want to go back there. Hakko wasn't like that, he had other ambitions. He needed to finish his training, pay for his service, have a home and live a life like any other human. He desired to settle down, and have a normal life. He wanted a way out of this tower, and stop being treated as a freak.

Usually the students who would come to the tower would be sent by richer families, as poorer families in urban areas would just deny having someone like that as their son and daughter. They would be killed in the wilderness, or find a way to live on their own, without any type of supervision. He met Todd the first day he came here, after Todd tried to bully him to get his money. Todd realized that he had absolutely no money, and bought him a loaf of bread. Ever since that day, Todd and Hakko were close friends, despite the way Todd treated the newcomers. Hakko knew he had a heart of gold, despite the way he treats those people, and he would always do the right thing when needed.

There was also Evelynn. The unusual girl, her talents were always scary to other people in the tower. She was able to phase in and out of our plane, and become a poltergeist. The whole tower was protected by strange magical wards just because of her being here, and closed off so that she won't escape the tower by phasing out. She was friendless, and when she first came to the tower no one would speak with her, because people were afraid of her powers. As Hakko shared a similar fate with her and they became close. Still Evelynn was a hard person to work with, and always annoyed Hakko every time she speaks.

Of course Master Jordan was also a really young adept, and he could also be considered as a friend. He would always take really good care of Hakko, even though they had the age difference between them. He would supervise him, guide him and teach him to control his magic, and would try to give him a purpose every time. Hakko really idolized him, and his authority. However, they still had the relationship of an apprentice and a master. They might have been good friends, but also distant to each other by the nature of their relationship. A master shouldn't be too attached to his apprentice, and should know how to discipline him when necessary, and Hakko was aware of this.

As Hakko was drifting away in thoughts, one of the maintenance workers interrupted him just before he enters the laboratory and said:

"Hey, Quartermaster Gunrick wanted me to find you. He said the goods you were expecting arrived last night."

"That's terrific news, I'll go there at once!"

"You still should join the class first, be careful of Mr Lennon today seems to be really grumpy."

Hakko nodded and thanked him, and looked at the instructor board sighing.

The smell of random ingredients, and mixtures filled the room, as there was very little ventilation in the alchemy labs. Someone who steps through that door the first time wouldn't be able to breathe with ease, with this heavy odour in the room. You could smell all kinds of chemical ingredients, mixtures and the stink would never go away. After studying here for a term, the nose starts to accept the smell, and adapt to the environment. There were desks and contraptions everywhere, as the left and right side were covered by curved bookshelves. All kinds of books related to alchemy could be found, though the books reserved for this Ivory Tower was a bit scarce. They only had certain fundamental books written by human researchers and translators, instead of original elven copies or other mystical editions.

The orange carpet on the floor had all kinds of stains and colours on them, as a result from hundreds of students who either passed or failed this class. Herbs, chemicals, tubes, mortars, pestles, heaters, shiny stones, all kinds of equipment related to alchemy covered up the entire room on top of desks and cupboards. Most of the equipment here was used frequently, and they got weary, but the higher ups would again ignore the requests to renew equipment due to budget issues. To them, as long as Mr Lennon thought they are good enough, they were good enough. It was also the only floor covered in resin, as it protects the floor from acid contact, and a couple tiny windows to make sure there is very little air circulation, but not enough to get the odour off the room.

Everyone arrived here with a potion, with an uncommon herb mixture or a structure as part of their project to present to their instructor, and everyone was quite on edge. The tension could be felt in the room; people were ignoring each other and focused purely on what they made. He approached his desk, removed his vial of potion and materials along with the parchment he prepared, full of new values he will be testing to find the correct ratio. The desks were rather old, but again covered in resin. But there were still noticeable cracks as careless students cut through it and damaged the desk over the years. They would be renewed and repaired at the end of every year, and any expenses would be cut from the students who are responsible for the well-being of that desk. The desk was just large enough for Hakko to put all his materials, and prepared for his instructor to come over to him and ask his progress.

Mr Lennon started to walk around the laboratory with his tome. Starting from the left side, he would approach the desks, would say good morning in a distant manner, look at the names list to find the name of the person and say it, examine the project and put either a tick or a cross next to the name. In some cases he would talk to the student and give council about his work, which would mean the project is not perfected but he still has a chance to do some things right. Everyone noticed Mr Lennon moving so they prepared their equipment to be checked. Excitement could be read from people's eyes, some people were shaking at the backs while the others kept making adjustments to their contraptions or their formulas. Hakko was also so tense that he kept moving his parchment and thinking about his formulas.

After an endless couple minutes, Mr Lennon had checked three desks so far and two of them failed by getting a cross. One of the girls was so angry that she shouted at her instructor, but Mr Lennon calmly told her to pass her complaint to the Council Chambers. She was so pissed off she stormed off the class with tears. Such behaviour was expected today, as half of the alchemy projects would fail at this stage, a quarter would be denied and warned, and a quarter would pass.

Hakko started to think about numbers, amount of people taking the class, amount of people who are in class to deliver their project, amount of people who might fail or pass. Of course Todd was not here but Evelynn was waiting at the back with an impressive contraption of blue liquid stored in a tube connected to pressure tubes. She noticed him and gave him a tense, forced smile, Hakko returned the favour in kind. At that very same time, the instructor had arrived at Hakko's desk while he was looking at behind.

"Good morning…" As he was looking at the name chart, "Perhaps I don't need to spell out your name if you are not even expecting me in your revision day."

"I'm sorry for looking at… Sir, here is my latest result and here are the next predictions for the mixture."

Mr Lennon grabbed the parchments Hakko prepared; it was about eight pages and theories about perfecting the potion, and testing results for it. Apparently the mixture turned the testing hamster into a carnivore monster and it ate his roommate's cat at one try.

"Poor cat, this is what happens if you fail your concoctions and this is why we need to be strict about your results."

Hakko looked at Rims face with an ashamed expression, and Rim just stared on the floor, not being able to stare back into his eyes.

"Normally this parchment and a failed result would mean that you must fail, but I need you to come see me in my chambers after the revisions. Rest assured, you already failed this class, and there are some things we need to cover before we accept the results. Otherwise you will not be able to repeat the class next term neither. You may leave now."

Mr Lennon walked for the next desk, but Hakko was devastated. He could not have failed alchemy class, not after all he's been through. But words did not come to his mouth, he could not defend himself. He put his bag on the desk, carefully put his orange vial on a safe spot and put the rest of his materials as well into the bag, slowly walking out of the class. Rim mocked him on his way out, as he still held a grudge about his cat.

That walk downstairs took almost half an hour to Hakko. It was a long, thoughtful and worried walk. All he could think was the hardships he had to endure coming up with what he has and how easy it was for his instructor to ignore his report, and fail his labour out of nowhere. It was so unfair. Everything about this institute was unfair. He gently put his bag on his chest, making sure the vial is not broken. Perhaps after talking with his instructor he could pass? Why would they need him in the chambers if he failed his class already? Why is it so hard for Hakko every time? He lied down and put his hands on his necklace, and started talking to it once more.

"What could I have done that would have changed the outcome?"

"It's not your fault son. The instructors do not give students access to breakthroughs and real mysteries, they only give you fundamental books which could help you to make mushrooms to go tipsy on if you want. I bet if you worked on a mushroom which would affect certain senses, you could have passed. But you chose the hard way."

"I chose the right way. How else can I learn?"

"You still do not understand, they don't want you to learn. They want you to become something they need you to be. You can only learn from me."

"You are not real."

"Despite your roommate willing to drown you in a spoon of water for every time you and I engage in a conversation, we both know I'm pretty much real and present. Denying what is true does not help your current predicament."

"I tried almost every ratio there is…"

"And you failed. It is truly a magnificent way to start the day. You will try again next term. Grab an apple, I want apples. Oh wait, there are no apples in the tower. It's closed off."

"We don't share a stomach, I just carry your soul with me."

"Doesn't matter, I love watching you eat that. It's crispy, juicy and makes the funniest voice when you bite it. You learn to value such things more once you lose what you have like me."

"I need to think."

"You need to think of ways that would get you his favours. If he was a female we could have tried seductive meth…

"Just shut up, please…"

Hakko took his necklace off his neck, put it on the cupboard and tried to close his eyes. He needed more rest before seeing Mr Lennon considering he only slept very little and he was really sleepy. But his eyes wouldn't close, his thoughts were too dense and he could not empty his mind. His ratios kept bothering him, he tried to think of a flaw and he hadn't found any way of making it work.

After lying down for thirty minutes, he stood up, grabbed his bag and necklace, only to find Rim coming inside, shutting the door with anger.

"Hey dumbass… If it makes you feel any good I failed the class too. I think three out of four people failed it. Mr Lennon wasn't having his best day."

"I'm sorry."

"You probably don't even know what it means to be sorry… Hope Mr Lennon punishes your ass for my cat as you rot in the containment cell near the living experiments…"

Hakko wanted to ask him what he meant with that, but he didn't want to argue with Rim again today. As he walks out, Rim gave him a shoulder bump and climbed up to his bed. Hakko, holding his hurt shoulder, got out of their room and started climbing the stairs once more with the eyes of all curious students. They all wanted to know why Mr Lennon called him to his chambers. Everyone was whispering about today's massacre, where Mr Lennon failed three quarters of participants at the first evaluation day.

"I can't believe it!" Evelynn angrily stopped Hakko, talking with a very loud and irritating voice, and forced him to talk to her. Her voice and attitude always bothered Hakko very much, but he was her friend and he had to endure this.

"I have to…"

"I worked so hard for this project! My parents could not visit me and I didn't have a shower for a week!"

"Can we… talk about that later?"

"Why, what's your hurry? Oh yes, Mr Hairless wants you in his chambers. You are the famous kid now, everyone is talking about why he wanted to talk to you so bad. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Of course you don't. What if your project was so bad that he wants to get you expelled? What if this is about the time you blew his tube tank? Oh my, you are so in trouble!"

"That's not helping…"

"Nothing can help you at your current state. You can always help me instead, we both would have done a favour for the world!"

"Let me pass… Please?" She daintily moved to the left so that Hakko can keep climbing the stairs. Everyone was in a shitty mood today. Who could blame them? But Hakko had to think about his problem first, and once he fixes it, he could start being there for others.

Climbing to the upper chambers was a real challenge. First you would have to go through the libraries, alchemy lab, study rooms, conjuring rooms, damage floor, enchantment storage, guest rooms, master quarters, cafeteria for academicians and many more floors. Hakko tried to count it, and he lost count of the amount of floors he had to climb just to get to the council chambers. No wonder Mr Lennon was usually in his alchemy lab, considering he would have to climb all that way just to get to his class and back to his quarters. There were rumours he usually sleeps there too and the only thing Hakko wondered was how he could sleep with that odour…

Mr Lennon was actually a good man. He would help his students a lot, and show them a lot of new things. He was a good instructor, and he knew more than the textbooks we had in the alchemy labs. He was a bit strict when it comes to giving out grades and accepting projects, because he would give his best to his students and he would expect their best in return. If all instructors were like him here in the Ivory Tower, they would have a much better environment. But perhaps Lord Zane is right, it's not about the quality of the education we get. It's all about holding a candle to the evil until we pass the bridge. Once that is done, it's over.

Hakko arrived at council member's floor which has six quarters belonging to higher-ups. There were more upstairs, and there was the council gathering room a couple floors from where he is. He gently knocked his doors, and Mr Lennon asked him to come inside. Hakko didn't even know how to begin the conversation, his tongue was paralyzed. The rumour about council member's chambers looking smaller but being bigger was correct. It looked half as big as his room for Hakko but when he entered, he realized its triple the size of the student rooms.

The room was covered with luxury silk red carpet and furs on the walls, with pictures like portraits. It was easy to notice Mr Lennon did have an interest in paintings of women. There were many pictures in his room of the same women. Also there was a cupboard in the middle with four drawers, with an hourglass, a crystal ball and a wizard's staff on top of it. The room was shaped in a hexagonal design just like most rooms, and once every two sides there were bookshelves. Here, Hakko noticed book covers and names he had not seen before, and many more writings in languages Hakko did not understand. At left there was a flange and there was a corpse of something on top of it, dissected and smelly. The scene was still gruesome for Hakko, even though they dissected certain living creatures to extract certain ingredients for potion making in the past. The thing appeared to be a fey of some kind, a female but it was hard to make up if not for its ears. With cupboards and drawers around the room were filled with candles on top and certain alchemical materials. Mortars, some herbs, roots, books were on the cupboards, put in a very disorderly fashion and ahead in the middle, there was a large desk with a wooden uncomfortable chair. On the desk, there was a pen and an ink as he was writing something, with a lot of books at his left side. Some soul stones, enchantment stones, many other magical items were present in his room. At right there was a curtain and behind it there was a bed with unwrapped sheets, rather looking untidy.

Hakko thought of many questions. Would he be able to fit all this in his room? How does this man sleep with this odour of a dissected fey next to him? How did this man have access to these books that he had never seen before? Who is the woman in the pictures? Was it the fey, or was it his wife or someone close?

"Sit." said Mr Lennon, in a gentle and calm voice, pointing the wooden chair in front of the desk. Hakko hesitantly moved to the chair with a lot of noise coming from creaking planks, and put his bag on the wooden floor and sit downs on the wooden chair.

"Don't mind the hag behind you, it was a unique creature and I needed some of its organs to add into our storage for potion making. Things that look easy to obtain are never as easy as they look to obtain." After a brief silence…"So you have been trying to create an invisibility potion, and you failed."

"I don't know what went wrong with it sir. I'm following one of my findings in the "Main Ingredients" book but there is no information of the ratio."

"Someone took a certain interest in your research. The name prefers to be anonymous for the time being, but it wishes you to finish your research. You could not complete your project in time but I'm going to have to ask you to get back to it. The person was very generous with his claims, saying that he will gladly pay a couple years of your education bills if you can deliver him results."

"But sir, I tried any ratio that there is. The formulas are algorithmic, and they cover up all the possible substance levels. I used mathematical variances, along with possibilities covered."

"I decided to help you a little bit. You might need to add something else to your mixture." He slowly walked to his bookshelf, and pulled a book with a green cover, with letters written in golden sparkly shapes.

"The book is for you, and delivered to you specially. The person also asked me to change your current grade to satisfactory, if you can manage to make the potion for him. Normally I wouldn't allow such outside interference, but there are other delicate matters at hand, and I'm obliged to help you finish your project for the moment." His voice was shaken, hesitant and low instead of his usual self, loud and decisive.

"So… If I manage the potion in the time I am given, I pass the class?"

"Yes."

"Who is this person?"

"Sadly I don't have the authority to tell you the identity of the person trying to help you with your project."

"This is just… terrific news sir. I could get back to it right away."

"You should, you also have a time limit of three days."

"Three?"

"Yes, quartermaster Gunrick will oversee all your needs on materials. You are given an endless amount of sepia for your iterations, and more of another material that might help you with your experiments. Consider yourself very lucky to have been given a second opportunity ."

Hakko's eyes were full of happiness and joy, with hope. He was given a second chance, all thanks to an anonymous individual, plus his two years of debt would be paid! It was an amazing opportunity.

" You may leave now." Said Mr Lennon, with a low voice and went back to writing with his pen.

"I will not let you down sir." Mr Lennon nodded to him without looking at him, but there was something to it, Mr Lennon was always a cold instructor with dominant eyes. In this case, it looked as if he was hesitant, and a bit windy. His voice was usually clear, and very authoritarian, but it was shaking this time. Something was off, but Hakko was in no position to judge the opportunity he is given. He put the green thick book in his bag with an elvish writing he could not read and ran back to his quarters to grab his alchemy supplies, with curious eyes of all other students while on his way on every floor.

The labs were completely empty, and abandoned. Most of the students left their equipment to rust after hearing they failed the class, and it wasn't cleaned yet, and it would remain this way until the last project delivery date. He carefully put the parchments that included his guesses and theories, and prepared scales so that he can perfectly mix the ingredients with precision. As he realized he had everything up and running, he took a deep breath and put his fingers on his necklace once more.

In a silent voice, he started talking to it.

"It wasn't so bad after all."

"So we are dealing with an anonymous man who is authoritarian enough to strike fear into the hearts of an Ivory Councilman, who is ready to donate you your two years of educational debt for an elven invisibility potion. What can possibly go wrong?

"You could just help me with the potion."

"I thought you wanted to learn this yourself, isn't that why you chose this project? Then again, you paying less debt would mean less time stuck in service of High Liege."

"This new book has the key, I'm sure of it. But it's Elvish… I do know it a little bit, but not good enough to read this."

"I don't know, maybe moving a heavy object on top of you is also a way to make one invisible to the naked eye. You would end up being squished and turn into the object itself, so in itself it's some sort of camouflage."

"Come on Zane…"

"Listen to me now. I don't care about your project, or your worries. This anonymous man might be the key to putting some new events to the motion, so I fear you are underestimating the gravity of the upcoming events. Open your horizons and I suggest you to forget about sleeping tonight. Our time of breaking our chains might be closer than you think."

"Breaking our chains?"

"Our freedom is close, I can feel it. Work, and finish your part of the deal. Let the rest happen, but keep your eyes open. There aren't many people who know the potential uses of the potion you are making, and the ones that I know are not the gentle ones. The word you are looking for is camouflage. Find an elven translator, and find the missing ingredient."

"This is more than just a potion of invisibility, it's a potion of camouflage? What is the difference?"

"Invisibility potion derived by humans is simply a mixture of a material that allows the ingredient to get into your blood flow faster, and it affects your skin in such a way that you do not reflect light, instead you feed on it. The common invisibility potions merely work in the dark, as you become a black entity that can blend in when there is no light. What you are working on is the real invisibility potion, which helps your skin adapt with its background colour, making you completely invisible to the naked eye if there is no movement, like a cloaking spell. Human's pathetic knowledge of Arcana never fails to amuse me, since you just ripped off elves to learn the magic but never theorized it to truly understand it. Your research can be used on many applications as you are about to make a breakthrough in human Arcana."

"It's good to know that I stumbled upon something spectacularly new for my race…"

"Knowing this fact, I want you to be more careful. I want you to have eyes behind you, and be prepared to face the worst. Or perhaps, seize any opportunity once u see it."

Hakko, confused and motivated at the same time, decisively dropped the necklace and started to work on his ratios. The potion had to be completed in three days, and now he knew what he was working on. He needed to find someone who is fluent in elven, and he needed to do the mixture right, to create his potion. He felt as if, all of a sudden, this became bigger than him and his attitude. Perhaps that is why Zane avoided telling him anything about the potion… Or maybe there was more to it?


	2. Accused

Hakko heard the voice of a stranger with a low pitched voice at the beginning, which got louder as he gained consciousness. Before he could open his eyes and look, he realized he's been drooling all over his desk. The feeling of embarrassment overwhelmed Hakko, with the heat rushing to his cheeks, making him blush. He knew he did not need to feel sorry for his state, alchemy labs were supposed to be open for all kinds of studies as long as the season isn't over and usually every student would spend the night in the labs to get their project working in time. His situation was a bit different, since he needed to deliver his potion after the evaluation date. The disgusting visual on his desk however, needed to be camouflaged. The word camouflage, it was in carved in his memory and became a breakthrough he has yet to achieve, and using this word in his daily conversations felt normal to him. He lifted his forehead from the desk, wiped his face clean and put his arm in such an angle so that the stranger cannot see the mess he made.

"Hey, I'm talking to you! I need to clean your desk!"

His hearing was getting better after moving his head up, and his senses were awakening. The vision was a bit dizzy, and his head was in a massive pain after putting his head on the desk for hours. As his vision became clearer, he looked at the stranger, and realized its Mr Waters, the cleaning man responsible for these upper floors. He would usually come up here after the class is over to clean up after students.

Mr Waters was a good man, an old man who has been living in the tower for more than forty years. Forty two years to be exact, but it was impossible to give the right age for such people who have been working around the place ever since the towers were built. He was a very sorrowful man, he would usually find alone students, force them to sit in front of them and talk to them for hours about his past life. Every student avoided being alone with this person, as it would mean them being stuck for hours, listening to every life story Mr Waters could come up with. Hakko didn't mind his stories at all, he actually enjoyed being there for Mr Waters, but it didn't change the fact that he needed to focus on his potion. It had been two days ever since he was given a second chance to remake his potion, and he almost had no progress, because he could not get the book translated, and his last formulas were also failing him. It was obvious to him that the key to do this right was written on the book given by Mr Lennon.

"Hey! Look at me when I talk to you young man!" Hakko tried to make eye contact with the old man but he couldn't focus his vision. His eyes were too light-sensitive and the dim light shining from the tiny window was enough to keep his eyes lower. He had to cover his forehead to reduce the light that invades his pupils. He took a deep breath, and looked at the old man's eyes, only to see he is in worse shape. The man was old, and his eyes carried his entire life, like embroidery of sorrow. He was wearing a linen tunic and pants which seems to have frayed over time. He clearly had white hair, with a hole in the middle of his head. He looked almost eccentric, but working here in the tower for all those years, Hakko decided not to judge the poor man for it.

"I'm sorry Mr Waters, I've been here for two days nonstop. I must finish this potion. Can you do your cleaning later?" Hakko asked with a quiet tone, hoping not to get on his bad side.

"Who are you to tell me how to do my job? These new generation kids sure hold no respect for their elders! I'll do my cleaning whenever I feel like it young man. Pack your stuff or get out of here." Hakko felt the urge to give this old man an attitude and do what he wants, but he didn't have the strength to put up such a posture. He agreed with the old man, giving him a slight nod, started collecting his parchments, thinking about where to go next to continue his studies. Just as Mr Waters noticed him moving his equipment, he said:

"On second thought, you should stay. I got a story to tell you."

Hakko hesitated with his decision, but he decided to stay with the old man. It would be too much work to move his equipment and installing it to another location. He had grabbed an elven fundamental dictionary, very thin one, and he was looking for the word "camouflage" on the new green book he was given, scanning through titles, hoping they represent potion names. Still reading elven was like a nightmare to him, he might have missed the word and never realized it went past him.

The elven alphabet was entirely different compared to both the common tongue, and the human tongue. Over the years human had their own language, as they migrated from the east and it was merely a language that was created to welcome the needs of communication. Once tribal and nomadic people, humans had travelled to west, hoping to find more fertile lands to create a civilization, and they did. In their travels, they contacted other races, the green skinned war machines of Abaddon, gracefully elite and the cunning elves, stout and enduring people and the great merchants, the dwarves. While these are merely written historical legends, first contact was with the dwarves. Seeing humans come from the eastern provinces looking for more fertile land to live, dwarves showed humanity how to adapt to a more settled life. This cultural encounter put new words to human tongue, as the dwarven craft were always more advanced than Humans craftsmanship. Using this expertise, humans advanced and made their own civilization, and adapted to becoming a civilization, leaving their migration behind. Dwarven tongue helped shape the current human language as it is, and it created a new language called the common tongue, which is spoken by both dwarves and humans. Elves, on the other hand, causing both civil wars on human civilization, had very little effect on cultural evolution of the human race. Because of this, elven language was always unique and enduring, and very different compared to both human and dwarven tongues. However, advanced elven traders, diplomats and ambassadors would learn the common tongue for trivial purposes. While the elves were not capable of trading with the dwarves, they would usually trade with humans, using them as a mediator.

However this difference made the elven alphabet impossible to read for Hakko, as he had absolutely no knowledge of the elven tongue. Even the most known human scholars merely knew how to spoke the elven tongue, but very few of them had the willpower to learn the alphabet, and elven calligraphy. Considering average elven age is up to three hundred years, elves had their whole life to learn it, but a human would not be able to spend a great portion of his life to learn elven writings. It was without doubt, the most difficult language for one to comprehend, especially for those with lesser lives.

"Wait, you are that kid that was summoned to the upper chambers, am I right? Hakko was it?"

"Yes, that is me." Appearently he was famous too... What a mess he got into just by being summoned to upper chambers…

"There was an elf looking for you." The word "elf" clicked in Hakko's ears, like a key running through a lock, perfectly matching the mechanism. Though he thought it would be wiser to ask first, and then act.

"An elf? What business would an elf have with a minor apprentice like me?"

"Yes, some new ambassador something, goes by the name Varyn Thawne. He had an important meeting with Borgh, and while I was cleaning the upper quarters, he approached me asking your name. He should be eating his lunch right now." The thought of realizing its lunch time, slapped Hakko with all its weight and he realized his time is running out for his potion. He had to see this elf, and meet him, perhaps ask his guidance. It was a blind shot, but it was enough to give him hope.

He started running for the spiral stairs immediately, grabbing some of his parchments and the book given by Mr Lennon, carrying them in a clumsy way. He stopped after a second, turned to the old man, only to find him strangely looking at him.

"Could you look after my stuff please, I'll be right back!"

"I'm no thief kid, I've been doing this job for longer than forty years but I'll clean your desk and move your stuff around."

"That is… acceptable." Hakko hated seeing his stuff moved around, but he had no choice but to accept the terms. He stormed off the floor immediately, climbing the stairs two at a time, thinking about the elf, and how to ask him to translate something for him.

When he arrived at the upper dining hall, he was out of breath. He decided to stay for a moment, calm his nerves with deep breaths. One of the working personnel approached him and asked him to leave, since the dining hall was only available for higher-ups, not minors.

"I was just going to meet someone, an elf."

"I don't care what your business is, this place is closed off for apprentices. Please leave immediately." Hakko tried to ignore the person and tried to peek at behind him, hoping to find the elf. There were only two people having their lunch, though he couldn't get a good look at them. But the elf had a posture that's more visible, his ears gave his identity away. Honestly that was all Hakko knew about elves which made them different, as he never really met an elf before.

While the working henchman was pushing Hakko out of the dining room, elf stood up and moved to interfere. The working man stopped, seeing the elf mobilize towards them but still holding Hakko in the same spot, not allowing him to come inside.

Hakko had a good look at the elf, this was the first elf he saw in his life. He had longer ears, but not as pointy as described in his readings. He was unusually tall, with a straight posture. His face was smooth and clean, with sharp eyes. His hair was long, queued as a ponytail, looking very orderly and straight. His gaze was strong and daring, with a noble walk. His dark purple gloves had frayed remains of an embroidery, and brown leather boots seemed as if it had been through a lot of travelling. He was wearing a black leather vest, with only clean embroidery which did not fray with his travels, a silver crest on his chest with symbols and markings. Also he was carrying a dark purple hood, which appeared to be fine silk. Hakko felt inferior with his linen vest and pants, he was almost envious of the way he stood.

The henchman took a humble posture, saluting his higher-up, letting go of Hakko.

"Is this how students are treated in the Fourth Ivory Tower?" The elf spoke with a sharp authoritarian tone.

"No… This dining room is enclosed to apprentices as they have a place of their own on lower floors." The henchman stuttered, with a shaken tone, but also with an insulting voice.

Humans never liked elves in the first place, all their troubles, all the chaos they were in were caused by the elves. They blamed elves for everything, and wandering lonely elves would usually be executed by urban crowds, unless they have a petition to walk around human soil, given by the High Emperor himself. Only certain elves with the right to travel would work with humans, usually with matters regarding to magic or contemptuous jobs like cleaning the streets. Elves that remained to live amongst the humans would also live in small areas that are specifically designed for them, protected by peacekeeper organizations funded by the Makith Stronghold. It would be foolish to put elves under the protection of imperial troops, as humans would always have a reason to hate elves. But a paid mercenary group would always do what is right, making them the right choice to protect elven civilians willing to live amongst the humans.

"If you will excuse me, I would like to invite this young man to have dinner with me. If you keep rejecting my will, I will have a horrible impression of how apprentices are treated within this tower, and you will be sure to receive a report and a penalty by the ministry of magic."

The henchman moved away in acceptance, nodding before he goes away, with an ill-humoured look on his face. Hakko had no clue where he went, probably to a cooking room, though it was quite entertaining to watch how he withdrew. He looked at the elf and said:

"Pardon me sir, I was notified that an elf came to our tower and wished to see me."

"Sir…I must say courtesy is a rare pleasure in human lands, especially towards an elf. You must be Hakko Mavr, the apprentice that your master spoke highly of. Varyn Thawne, at your service." Hakko was so surprised with the manners the elf had shown, he was frozen in panic. "Come; please follow me to my table."

As the elf gently sit on his table, moving the recently cooked chicken thighs in front of him away, Hakko's eyes were on the food as such a rare delicacy would be so rare to eat in the apprentice's dining room.

"By any chance, are you hungry, little human?"

"No sir, it's your food." Though his stomach had something else to say about that, considering he didn't eat a thing for a couple days, as he worked tirelessly for his potion.

"Eat, gain your strength. It does look delicious, but we have our own spices to change the taste of such food. I can't make myself eat these chicken legs, I will be fine with these freshly picked apples." Hakko picked the chicken meat, and took a small bite off it shyly as the elf is watching, with thankful eyes. After taking a bite off it, he put it back on the wooden plate and looked at the elf. After cleaning his throat and gulping down, he said:

"I have been told you are an ambassador sir."

"Ambassador?" The elf smiled, showing wrinkles on his cheeks. "I'm no ambassador, child. I'm simply a temporary overseer that was sent by the Ministry of Magic to control the state of this Ivory Tower. Also I'm an adventurer by necessity, as I didn't wish to stay in my homeland and work amongst the nobles of my house."

"I beg your pardon sir, how does it become a necessity if you simply did not wish to stay in your homeland?"

"You make a good point, young human. But there are factors I can't explain to you, with elven noble houses. How long have you been studying here?"

"It's been three years sir."

"Are you happy with your conditions?"

"We get by one way or the other sir, our alchemy evaluations were concluded a couple days ago."

"How did it go?"

"My project wasn't completed in time, but I was given a second chance."

"I was told that you almost had a major breakthrough but didn't deliver in time. Ministry of Magic was really clear about alchemy evaluations after the explosion occurred in the Emperors Halls, the evaluations had to get tougher. If you were given a second chance that means you are onto something greater, or you picked the interest of someone greater."

"Actually sir, I need your help."

"How may I help, young apprentice?"

Hakko explained him the situation in detail, telling him about his potion, the anonymous man that wished to donate for his education and he would be able to pass only if he completed his potion. He also slipped an important detail, he said he is working on a potion of camouflage, which was an information given to him by his soulstone. He also added he was given a green covered book by Mr Lennon which is completely elven, and he had no way of translating or understanding it, and asked for his help.

The other man sitting next to their table stood up and left the dining room in a rush. Hakko tried to see his identity, but he couldn't focus on it as he was talking with the elf.

"I'll gladly help you young human, now I see why your master Jordan was so willing for me to come and visit the tower. Maybe he simply wanted me to lend you a hand in your potion." Hakko was so full of joy, he would probably thank his master endlessly for sorting this meeting. "I'm thrilled to hear that there are some humans with the potential to change things, and promote human knowledge when it comes to magic. Though I can't help but be curious about this man who wished to fund your education, and give you the second chance. Let's go for the alchemy lab, you could show me the student's quarters on your way down and tell me some honest reviews of some things around here. The best way to learn the truth behind an institute is to ask a consumer, not to a dealer."

Hakko was showing the elf the place as they moved down the stairs, and talked about the current state of the institute. On his way he also asked the elf some questions, which he dodged all of them with intense care.

He couldn't help but enjoy the company of the elf. Students would usually be treated horribly under the care of their instructors, and only compassion he could get would be from his Master Jordan. This elf was also quite knowledgeable when it comes to having manners, like a real noble, and Hakko never met someone like that in his life. He also sounded like a caring person, with a lot of wisdom behind his words. Of course he was also distant, as he was friendly, since he was merely doing his job. He kept asking questions about the institute, things Hakko didn't even consider before. It helped him get a better view of things, and made him realize what could be better around here. After a long slow walk with a conversation full of gems, they finally arrived to the alchemy lab, which looked a lot tidier and cleaner thanks to Mr Waters efforts.

"Oh I see you found the ambassador, good!"

Mr Waters shouted, as he saw the young apprentice and the noble elf. Hakko gave him a faint smile, as he walked to his deck with Varyn following him. He was thankful that he didn't move his stuff yet.

"Will you excuse us please Mr Waters, we have work to do."

Mr Waters nodded and left the room immediately, leaving Hakko in awe, considering he would never be able to make him do that. He grabbed the book he was given, and gave him to Varyn.

"Here is the book I was given sir."

Varyn scanned through the pages, nodding and understanding the book as he kept flipping the pages. "I have a question for initial attempt was to make a potion of invisibility." He stopped flipping pages, and started to focus on subtitles, reading them carefully; "Then you told me you want to create the potion of camouflage. How did you get to the conclusion that, the potion you are trying to make is called camouflage?"

Hakko was speechless, his tongue started drowning his throat, his eyes started losing focus and he lost control of his senses, putting his fingers on his soulstone in fear.

"Now you have done it kid."

"What am I going to say?"

"We don't have much time, unless you tell him that you are able to see the future or you were just making stuff up as you go, we are screwed."

"I thought time slows when I'm communicating with you?"

"Time slows relatively on many things. Do not worry, the person you are dealing with is strong enough to sense my presence, probably with the first glance. I could even say I met him already, in a way of speaking. He will be able to contact me from the second you put your fingers on your stone. You wouldn't be able to conceal my presence, even if you tried hard. Just make him understand you are in control."

Hakko dropped his stone, and looked up to make eye contact, only to see the elf focusing on him deeply in a trance.

"We have secrets."

"It's my trophy from my first hunt with Master Jordan." Hakko said, deciding to say the truth on this matter. There was no need to come up with lies.

"Sealing spells keep the spirit trapped in a cage, if they roam free in the world you build for them, they can possess you and gain control over your body by pure will, or force you to challenge them."

"Sir, I carried this soulstone for two years and never had any problems. I'm in control. In fact the person sealed has guided me on many occasions and he is close to me."

"Evil spirits tend to come out at your worst moment, when they see you have a weakness. Before you realize, you will find yourself in the world you created for him, fighting for survival and supremacy. The fact that he did not find a crack in your will is because you never hesitated with your decisions before, or you've been acting in cooperation with him."

"I would really appreciate it if you kept this a secret, sir."

"The more I see of this tower, the less I feel safe. I'll decide if I wish to share your condition. Here we go, potion of camouflage."

Varyn was pointing his finger on a subtitle written with thicker ink, Hakko looked at where he's pointing, only to find elven letters he can't read.

"Materials you need are sepia, mandrake root and Cestrum Nocturnum."

"Cestrum what?"

"Also known as "Bloom of a Moon lily" or "Lady of the Night", it's an indigenous plant that grows in the current western Ashum, Moon Elf territory. You have to brew it right and get its essence and also imbue it with enchantment magic to give it the right density" said Varyn, in a very serious and soothing tone. He stopped reading and looked at Hakko, asking him: "Perhaps Lady of the Night is a more familiar name for it?"

"Lady of the night… It is an herb worshipped and consumed fanatically by Night Maidens cult. They are a mostly female cult that is being searched for half a century, but always managed to conceal themselves in the woods. I read about them, and it's a herb that can easily be found here. But I'm not sure how this enchantment works."

"Did you ever enchant your weapon with snakeroot?"

"I did, a couple times."

"It's the same procedure. Go ahead, I will go and get you the Moon Lily you need from your quartermaster. You have to find the right ratio, a higher mix of sepia in this case can be poisonous, invading your blood veins."

"Because mandrake root thins the blood flow, helping sepia dissolve quicker and get into reaction with bloom essence, raising above the surface of the skin and create a skin that is light-sensitive. And enchantment is merely to make it dense enough so that it can cover the skin."

"Almost there. I can't tell you more of the process, the whole point of this breakthrough will be you figuring out doing the enchantment right." Varyn left he alchemy lab to get the bloom they needed, leaving Hakko alone with his work. Just before he left, he turned around and said: "Good luck Hakko."

He has been working to make this potion for three weeks with failed attempts, and now he knew what to do. However, he only had several hours to complete the enchantment, and he had no clue how it should work. He immediately went for the bookcase at his right, to read more about snakeroot enchantment.

Snakeroot enchantment was merely imbuing the weapon with crushed snakeroot, smearing it on the weapon. If enchanted correctly, snakeroot essence would cover the entire weapon, making the potion work. If it's not enchanted properly, crushed snakeroot would not cover the weapon as a whole, and the poison would evaporate, without holding itself as a whole. If the principle was the same, he would have to thin the blood so efficiently that it would go through his capillary vessels, reaching the skin, covering it up. This gave him a clue about the use of ginseng, and helped him theorize things. He would have to check his past experiments and results to see how efficient the mixture has been, without the lily bloom. Also it had to be heated perfectly so that it could start a reaction, conserved so dense that it would expand as a thin layer all over the skin, acting as liquid.

All this theoretical thinking just confused him more, but he wished to keep things simple, using the same enchantment spell he used with snakeroot application. He clearly read the instructions one more time and remembered how to apply the spell. He was ready, for whatever is coming.

Varyn arrived with a poach in his hands, moving with large steps. He sat down with Hakko, merely watching as Hakko grabbed his pen and ink with a vial of contained sepia, a jar of mandrake roots and a pouch of moon lilies, getting a clean mortar and a pestle, preparing another try for his experiment. The ratio was already clean in his head, he needed two pieces of crushed mandrake root along with five teaspoons of sepia, mixed with a bunch of moon lily. He realized the bloom only factors with the length of invisibility, and decided not to think too much about how many blooms. He put all the materials in the mortar and started crushing them, as it became a mixture with the colour of dirt. Varyn watching his every movement closely was not helping with the stress he was having, but it was nice to have someone to guide him through the steps.

"The potion is supposed to end up in orange."

Hakko nodded, while mixing the ingredients. He dropped the pestle, and looked at the mixture he prepared. It was brown as the sepia and the mandrake root mix started to get into each other. He put the mixture into a potion vial, on top of a heater. He tore a simple part of a parchment and started to draw some runes on a piece of paper.

Enchantment magic would take its strength from these runes, as every rune meant something different. Some runes would mean raising energy with heat, lowering energy with lowered temperature, getting denser or looser and many other attributes that you can imbue materials with. Enchantment magic was a major part of a mage's life, though only a few alchemical processes would have implications mixed with enchantment.

After the runes, he merely had to read them, and moving the enchantment to the vial. It took all his focus, all his energy to move the runes to the vial, as there were two runes on the parchment. He got used to moving a single enchantment, but two enchantments would be quite tiring even for an adept. This is what Hakko has been working on for the last three months, he had no choice. Everything on his life, his aims, his ambitions, his wishes, they all called to this point, he had to do this enchantment right.

He couldn't help but get lost in thoughts in such complicated magical applications that required patience.

But he had to keep moving the enchantment correctly…

He had to focus…

He thought of his situation. He thought of all that piled books on his desk, all those parchments, torn up clothes in his room and more homework he had to work on. He thought of his friends and his colleagues, he snapped out of it to keep it working.

He thought of the putrid smell in the alchemy lab, which replaced itself with an odour that is unique to the cleaning supplies Mr Waters was using… He thought about the dust near his desk, the sunlight that disappeared from the tiny window, as the time passed. He snapped out of it, and kept focusing on the enchantment.

He had to focus… It all depended on this.

But the thoughts did not leave him. He thought about his existence, locked in a tower, in silence. He thought about how pathetic it is that he was forced to do all this, to become an accepted member of the society. These curing centres made for them, so that they could be moulded into something that is not harmful to the society. The thought was enough to shatter his sanity, but he kept focusing, not letting go of the spell.

Time passed…

He asked himself how he got here in the first place. He remembered his promise to Master Jordan, that he will become someone he's proud of. He will become a strong mage and he will use his powers for the good of mankind. Did he really want to do that anymore? Did he really want to show that mercy to humans that almost burned him on a wooden stick? He couldn't think about such things right now, he had to focus.

He had anger, supressed anger, along with confusion. He realized these feelings and thought it might sabotage his work, deciding to push them away.

The light in the lab was completely gone, as it was getting close to evening. The sun was being devoured by the hills ahead, which Hakko could only see in random books with drawings. The last hill he actually saw was at the age of ten, before he was taken to the tower, close to the village he was living in.

"You are almost there. The potion is orange. I'd say it's a masterpiece."

He heard Varyn for the first time during the enchantment. How long was he doing this for? Was he sitting next to him all the time? What time was it?

"It's the evening, stop for now. Even if the potion fails, this is too much for your will to handle."

Hakko gently lifted his fingers from the parchment, lowering his right hand, collapsing onto his desk.

"What time is it?"

"I'd say it's in the last quarter, but I can't give you an exact time frame. Well done, human. You truly have exceeded my expectations."

Hakko just put his forehead on the desk, trying to clear his mind. His mind was putting too much stress on his mental state, and needed a clear rest. His lack of sleep also started to show, as he has been working non-stop for this potion. He grabbed a cork stopper and forced it on the potion, carefully putting it on his pockets.

"We have to test this."

"Lead the way, I would love to see your testing chambers, and the creatures you use to apply your mixtures."

He did not want to test it, he wanted to sleep. But he had no other choice, if this attempt failed he only had one more chance to make another one considering the time it took to apply the enchantment. He had to make the best of his timeframe. While he was putting his parchments in his bag, strange short human ran into the alchemy lab, in deep breaths.

"Master Varyn!" The elf gave the human a sharp look, with a puzzled look in his face. The tension in the room got Hakko curious as well, the human was breathing heavily, almost as if something urgent happened.

"What is it?"

"It's Master Lennon sir, you must come and see this."

"Tell me."

"Master Lennon has been killed sir, he seem to have been poisoned."

Varyn was surprised, but he was not in shock. He could keep his cool under such news. He clearly had seen enough blood for his lifetime. Hakko on the other hand, his pupils grew, he dropped his bag of books and parchments, completely in shock. He clearly wasn't supposed to hear this, but he was there, he heard it all. Varyn realized the young apprentice in shock, slowly losing his sanity.

"Listen to me, I want you to go to your chambers. I will go look this up."

How could Hakko just do that? Mr Lennon was his future, he was his everything now. He could not abandon him like that. He wanted to bring his potion to him, and finish the deal. He wanted to pass his class, and get his anonymous donation. He also did respect Mr Lennon, they worked together a lot during this season.

"I want to come." he said, in a very low tone, with a shaky voice.

"You can't, I have to look this up on my own."

"I am coming." Varyn gave Hakko a worried look, realizing the young man already made up his mind. His gaze was also puzzled, as he did not understand this behaviour at all. Humans were awkward creatures after all, and perhaps he had more to learn about them.

"Very well, let's go together."

The climb upstairs was slow, and disturbing. Hakko was thinking about his future, and thinking who might have the motive to do such a thing. There hasn't been a single death in the tower for three years, which was merely a case of a failed apprentice blowing himself up in the alchemy labs. This was clearly murder.

"How did you know he was poisoned?"

"I'm his assistant, I usually give him a daily dose of Rosemarry mixture for his heart. He seems to have drunk it, and passed away. I can assure you I know nothing about it. His throat seemed to have gone black, which was even visible from the outside. Mr Trevors claims its dumbcane."

Fear started to overwhelm Hakko, as he thought of the image of seeing Mr Lennon lying on the ground with a blackened throat. Dumbcane… What was that herb? With fear, he did the best thing he always did. He decided to hide in his sanctuary. He decided to touch his soulstone to get guidance.

"Hello!"

It was Varyn, he was with Zane and Hakko, in the very environment Hakko built for the evil spirit with his mind. The possibility overwhelmed Hakko's limits, he rebelled with the thought that, his sanctuary was invaded by a stranger. How could he find his way to this very platform? The place was merely a location in his mind.

Zane: "You did not tell me you met such a good friend, he sounds nice. He is unlike most of your friends who wish to dig your graves."

Varyn: "You can't just keep putting paranoia on him, leave the kid alone."

Zane: "Fine, he is off the hook. This is the first time we are about to see a dead person, I will not ruin it."

Hakko was shocked once more, didn't know what to say. He turned to the spirit, asking: "It's a dead body… And it's now of all times, Mr Lennon…" his voice was shaking, his tone was low, and his eyes were slowly filled with tears. His breathing was off the charts, he was running around the circular platform, back and forth.

Varyn: "Easy, just take deep breaths." Hakko listened to the elf's advice, started taking deep breaths and slowing down. "We will find out what is going on, I promise." The thought calmed him down a bit, but he was thinking about his life, and how short it can be. Humans were really fragile creatures.

Zane: "You two should stop being adorable and start to look into the eye of terror. Both of you have been in contact with Mr Lennon, so there is a high chance both of you will be seen as suspects."

To be a suspect… Hakko's mind lost its sanity with that thought, and started shouting with supressed anger.

Hakko: "I am no suspect!"

Zane: "Cry all you like, it's obvious. He failed your evaluation, you got him killed. You even met him on occasions." Hakko wanted to blast the spirit with anger, but he calmed himself down once more, thinking about what to do. He wouldn't be powerful enough to defeat him anyway.

"Same goes for you Varyn."

Varyn started to hold his chest in pain, and disappeared entirely.

Zane: "I'm surprised he could stay here for this long. Now you…" A scythe appeared out of nowhere in his hands, with dark clouds covering his body. Hakko was terrified at the sight, as the cold, unholy wind covered his body, piercing through his skin.

The spirit raised his hand, pulling Hakko to his palms. Hakko writhed with the pain of his neck being squeezed by a cold entity, yet he called his weapon with his last breath. As he activated the runes on his right arm to conjure his weapon, a long glaive appeared on his right hand out of nowhere. Yet the spirit simply tossed the glaive aside, squeezing him harder. Hakko squealed in pain, as the spirit lifted him up.

Every magician would simply attune themselves to a magical weapon, and the weapon would have the rune inscribed on the wielders arm of choice. It was a process of the person mutually agreeing to coexist with the human, a tough process. Hakko had a very long and enduring story with his weapon, as his weapon would be called "Crimson Glaive". The weapon was vampiric from origin, carrying unholy traits which would not be welcome in normal circumstances, but the weapon chose Hakko at first sight. It was a glaive with crimson metalwork on it, carrying minor dwarven runes of "endurance" and "cold", along with an elven inscription he never knew the meaning of. He never even had the chance to know the true power of his weapon, because he would rarely have the chance to use it.

"If you ever put your trust on an elf with a keen wizard's eye, and open your heart, they will find your inner sanctuaries, and invade our privacy. I do not want that, not one bit. If this ever happens again, I will carve your intestines, and leave you to bleed here forever, while I take over your host. Do you understand?"

Hakko was scared, Varyn warned him of this. For three years, they have been like brothers with Zane. Today, he was getting choked by him, as he begged for mercy. How did they get to this point?

He focused his will, and let go of the soulstone, snapping out of it. As he let go of the stone, he lost his balance, almost falling down. Varyn helped him up, straightened him, and they kept climbing the stairs.

"Remember, no one can help you fight him. Only you can harm him in that existence, and he can harm you. Take caution in your actions."

As they arrived to the higher chambers, four instructors were gathered near the door. They were nagging at each other, as the room was filled with tension. They all had worried faces, their lips were moving, staring at each other. Also two Guardians climbed up the stairs, to hold the order and guide the minister of magic. They were wearing different coloured capes and wielding stranger swords garnished with red gems, compared to the usual weaponry that Guardians would carry. They were clearly more specified elite guards, with higher status.

Minister of Magic had arrived quickly, after hearing the harmed instructor to oversee the matters herself. Hakko had no idea how could she travel here so quickly. Her name was Felina Chelsey, a powerful human wizard that graduated her class as the top mage. Aside from this, Hakko never heard of this woman or met her before. The strange guardians waiting near the door were probably her personal bodyguards, accompanying her in case she is in danger.

"Stay here." Varyn said, holding Hakko just outside the door. He entered inside, holding his nose to prevent the smell of the carcass from making him dizzy. Hakko was staring at the eyes of the instructors, but they were too busy blabbering with each other, completely ignoring him.

Hakko thought he could take advantage of this carelessness, and tried to listen inside a bit to make sense of what is going on. All Hakko could hear was whispers, and not being able to understand drove him mad. He wanted to take a peek inside and see what is going on, with his length he could easily hide under the instructors and enter. If he were to be caught, that would probably mean some sort of punishment. It wouldn't matter anyway, the season was almost over and he had failed his alchemy class. He had to repeat this season no matter what he does, so getting that punishment didn't sound too scary for him at that moment. He had to risk it, there was a slight thrill to it. He wanted to see a dead body for the first time in his life, and he also wanted to confirm if Mr Lennon was truly dead. Part of him begged his existence, hoping that he's still alive, and his hopes are not dead.

While the guardians talked and held the instructors in place, keeping them in order, Hakko snuck in and entered Mr Lennon's chambers. Mr Lennon was lying down on the floor. He was wearing his usual robe, and lying down. Almost as if he was sleeping, he had just lost his consciousness. His throat had changed its colour to black, and his eyes were open, while his fingers were covering his neck. He could not have been dead, he was probably sleeping, he probably went away for a long sleep. He almost died at one point burned on a stake, but it still didn't hit him this much.

Mr Trevors was taking skin samples from a knife and tweezers. He was also examining Mr Lennon's throat, which was a horribly disgusting sight for Hakko. He still wanted to hear and confirm if he is dead, so he stayed inside the room. Mr Trevors noticed Hakko entering the room, and quickly pointed Hakko with his knife, shooing him away.

"Please throw this young man out. This is an on-going investigation."

Everyone turned to Hakko all of a sudden and one of the guardians pulled him out of the room rigorously. Minister of Magic was also there, she was wearing dark blue robes with a circlet carrying a pink gem on top. Her eyes were strangely blue, and she had a really well shaped, beautiful face. Along with her, there was Mrs Jadyn, conjuration magic instructor for students. They both stopped talking to each other in whispers and turned around to face the illegal trespasser. Mrs Jadyn was wearing her usual dark crimson robes with golden stripes on it. She had curly and dark hair and she was oddly young compared to other instructors. She saw Hakko, and pointed her fingers at him.

Mrs Jadyn: "There is the student I was talking about." The guards stopped pulling Hakko, holding him tight. "I have been keeping this student on surveillance ever since he was specifically invited to Mr Lennon's chambers. This student is the failed apprentice with the possible motive to kill Mr Lennon after being summoned to his chambers." Hakko's eyes tried to put all the innocence it could muster, shouting "I didn't do it!"

Felina: "Bring him to the upper chambers for interrogation. Mr Trevors, you have the crime scene. I will look into our trespasser." She had an oddly strong accent, almost foreign to Hakko. Her voice had a strong presence, almost a voice Hakko wished to obey, with a slight feeling of charm into it. She was incredibly beautiful, but cold at the same time.

Varyn: "I am witness to the fact that this person was nowhere close to the crime scene during the event." Varyn jumped with an enthusiastic tone, clearly trying to prove Hakko's innocence.

Mrs Jadyn: "Since when do we listen to elves to oversee our matters? Leave this place elf, and go home. This investigation is ours." Mrs Jadyn said, in an insulting tone. Her face showed clear disgust when she used the phrase "elf".

Felina: "If he's innocent, he will be released. You have no authority to tell me who to suspect, or what to do in a crisis overseer. Same goes for you Wendy. Let's move out." Mrs Jadyn nodded in agreement, while Varyn Thawne started to shout after the guards, telling them to stop. She gently walked out of the room, pointing the soldiers to move forward, as they carried Hakko roughly.

As Hakko was harshly being carried to the upper chambers by two guardians, all he could think was, he wanted to sleep, eat and go back to his bed with the warmth of his room. His life didn't look too bad to him anymore. He said to himself, he could have lived if he failed his alchemy exam and studied another year, and he could have just accepted his fate. However, he chose the harder path. With a harsh blow on his head, he lost his consciousness as he was being carried upstairs, in the eyes of all the instructors and the Ivory Council.


End file.
